fuck sonic 3 & knuckles had some great fuckin music like I could just fuckin jam to Hydrocity Act 1 all fuckin day god just listen to this glorious funky beat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K1rV9kFs6I
Actually on that note... the Sonic & Knuckles portion of Sonic 3 is... very different in style
All the Sonic 3 levels and Sonic 3 specific musics are funky as hell, Ice Cap excluded.
In fact, Ice Cap's two tunes sound honestly more like they belong in the Sonic & Knuckles' portion. They're all higher energy tracks... ASIDE from Mushroom Hill Zone which is still funktacular.
*Sideeyes Sandopolis Zone,... narrows eyes* you sit the fuck down.
Desert Palace, which is just a Sandopolis themed race but with a better song, is pretty nice. Pretty poppy again.
Then there's Endless Mine, which... goddang we gone way past funk into goddamn Samba territory or something, i like it. And then the results go full funk again.
There's like, a series of musical directions here and it's kinda fascinating to actually sit and analyse it.
Sonic 3's final boss music is infinitely superior tho ngl. Big Arms is a fuckin great boss track.
( I don't like Sandopolis Zone can you tell lol. I fuckjin' hate the Instant Death Failure State speed-puzzling sections, and I hate the darkness mechanic, and I hate the fucking unkillable ghosts and just... god
fuck that entire pair of stages oh my god.
They shoulda taken notes from Sonic 2's Dust Hill Zone and just... not.